But that is consistent with hobbits and the Shire in general. They are anachronisms. They are modern rural Englishmen living in an otherwise Dark Age Middle Earth! Everything about them, from their waistcoats and pipes, to their contracts and wills written in red ink, are meant to be familiar to the modern reader.

Yes, the dwarves of the Hobbit are not quite the fierce dwarves of Azanulbizar. They have grown a little soft. But they are not meant to be the anachronistic ones. That's the job of Bilbo Baggins, beourgois burglar!

There is still hope though. If PJ makes it clear that the contract was written with a silly hobbit in mind, I'll find it perfectly appropriate.